White House Worked With Buyout Firm to Save Plant

By

Mark Maremont

Aug. 21, 2012 10:30 p.m. ET

Since the spring, President Barack Obama's re-election campaign has repeatedly hit Mitt Romney for his career as a private-equity executive and has aired ads accusing his former firm, Bain Capital, of ruining businesses and sending jobs overseas.

At the same time, the Obama White House played a central role in encouraging another private-equity firm to rescue a Philadelphia oil refinery, whose imminent closure by owner Sunoco Inc....